Gift Clone

read Part 1 of the story

Our drive from the Grand Canyon to San Diego was an all day trip starting in snow and ending in a warm California evening with plenty of gusting off-shore wind. The cats rode in the back of the van, not confined to their cages. Our only stop along the way had been a quick visit to Joshua Tree park. Upon reaching San Diego, Rylla wanted to swim in our hotel's pool and Zeta and I were in the adjacent pet area, letting the cats romp and discussing what we might do the next day. We only had a vague plan to take Rylla to the beach.

I was watching our cats explore the pet play area, but then I soon noticed a change in the telepathic link that I had with Rylla. I turned towards the pool and saw that Rylla seemed to be swimming laps with another young woman. I asked Zeta, "Are they racing?"

Bimanoid Interface

Zeta shrugged. "They chatted together for a minute then started swimming together. They are swimming side by side, so it does not seem to be a race."

I wanted to discuss with Zeta my idea of experimenting to see if Rylla's access to the Bimanoid Interface could be strengthened. "I suppose you don't want Rylla taking drugs if she's going to be swimming."

Zeta nodded. "Not if she's in the ocean. You know she wants to go surfing tomorrow. If she's only going to be in a pool with me watching then you can do your experiment. What drug do you want to try?"

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I was thinking about starting with nicotine itself. I replied to Zeta's question obliquely, "I'd prefer not to experiment on her. But really, can we afford not to? She must have been sent to us for a reason. I can sense that she has limited access to the Bimanoid Interface, so it is natural for me to wonder if she would respond to nicotinic drugs in the same way that I did back when Ivory was experimenting on me. Maybe we can strengthen her telepathic ability."

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Zeta was more worried than I was about experimenting on Rylla's brain. She complained, "You don't have to experiment on the poor girl. Nobody is forcing you. We could just have a nice vacation and then send her back to Australia."

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Knowing that Zeta was 100% correct, I sighed and tried to control my desire to tinker with Rylla's connection to the Interface. I saw that Rylla and the other girl had stopped swimming and were again talking together at the far end of the pool. "I'll certainly let Rylla decide for herself. I'm not going to force her to experiment with the function of her brain and her Phari endosymbiont."

Rylla and her new friend climbed out of the pool and came over to the pet area where Zeta and I were sitting. Rylla introduced us to the young woman, who, standing side-by-side with Rylla seemed like she might be several years older than Rylla, but my judgement might have been skewed by her impressive height. Rylla said, "This is Tricia, a student here at the university."

Tricia told us, "I work at the restaurant here during the evening rush, but I usually take a swim before I head home. I'm glad I bumped into Rylla. She gave me a good workout."

Zeta quickly went over to the pool area and found some hotel towels for the girls.

For a minute Rylla and Tricia talked about swimming and Rylla explained that she was from Australia. Tricia said, "I could tell by your accent."

Tricia was several inches taller than myself and built somewhat like a boy with narrow hips and the powerful shoulders of a swimmer. While she was speaking, suddenly I realized that I had a telepathic link to Tricia. It was weak and intermittent, but I immediately became suspicious. I asked myself: why had someone with telepathic ability so quickly latched onto Rylla upon our arrival in San Diego?

Zeta handed two towels to Rylla. Rylla then handed one of the towels to Tricia and they finished drying themselves off... the hot wind had already done most of that work. Rylla said, "I had to sit in the car all day today. I'm glad I got a chance to do some swimming before trying to go to bed."

Tricia asked, "How long are you going to be in town?"

Rylla shrugged. "We are not on a planned schedule. Tomorrow I want to go surfing."

discovery of antigravity hierions

Tricia explained, "More Santa Ana wind is forecast for tomorrow. There won't be good waves for surfing. I have a better idea. I have classes in the morning, but we can meet on campus for lunch. I'll take you to visit my lab then I'll bring you back here when I report for work."

I asked, "What lab?"

Tricia replied, "I'm doing my senior research project in Dr. Lemet's lab at the Salk institute. We do neuroscience research. 

Rylla accepted the offer and Tricia departed. We went back to our rooms. When we were out of Rylla's hearing, Zeta asked me, "What's wrong?" Via our telepathic connection, she could tell that I was upset.

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I was trying to match the fragmentary telepathic mind pattern of Tricia to all of the mind patterns that were in my memories, particularly those that had come to me via infites. There was a memory from Yōd that seemed like a possible match. I replied tentatively, "I think that girl, Tricia, is a new instantiation of Maria, the woman who blocked Rylla's memories of the hierion discovery last year."

Zeta was shocked by that idea. "Are you serious?"

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"I've heard stories from several of my collaborators about an Interventionist named Radhas and Yōd passed onto me a strange memory or vision of how Radhas had been on Earth and in conflict with some other Interventionist agent operating on Earth. In the infites that I got from Yōd was a memory of Yōd meeting that other agent at Observer Base. I had a weak telepathic connection to Tricia and her mind pattern seems to match that of the agent who Yōd met."

Zeta asked, "So do you think that Tricia is here to prevent you from experimenting on Rylla?"

"I have no idea, but I'm amazed at how fearlessly Tricia swooped in on Rylla. I think Tricia knew that I was in telepathic contact with her. She did not care."

Zeta was perturbed. "I'm surprised you let Rylla make plans to go off with Tricia tomorrow."

"What could I do? Try to tell her 'no'? If I had tried to interfere, Rylla would not have listened to me."

Zeta was bristling at me. "You know that?"

"I sense that, via my telepathic link to Rylla."

An hour later, Zeta and I were just drifting into sleep when our phones rang at the same time. We both had the same text message: 'Meet me in the bar, Tricia.'

Zeta and I quickly got dressed and went to the hotel's bar. There was Tricia, sitting at a small table. Zeta and I sat down and Zeta rather heatedly demanded, "What do you want with Rylla?"

Tricia calmly explained, "The same thing you want, but I know how to make it happen."

The Femtobot Hack

I could sense in Tricia's mind what she meant. I asked, "You work with the Dr. Lemet who studies acetylcholine receptors?"

"Yes. Tomorrow when I take her to the lab, I'll ask Rylla if she wants to participate in a quick experiment. I'll hook her up to our lab equipment and that will let me monitor her brain activity and find the optimal dose of agonist for activating her neural connection to the Interface."

Zeta asked, "So it is true? You are Maria Green?"

Tricia replied without hesitation, "That's the name I used while stationed in Australia."

Zeta asked with exasperation in her voice, "Are you going to tell Rylla who you are?"

Tricia shrugged. "I'd rather not. Rylla is really quite angry at Maria. Anyhow, there is no reason to tell her. We are moving past that."

I asked, "Why did you take her memories away last year, but now you are trying to help her better use the Interface?"

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Tricia replied, "Last year was not the time for Rylla to be using the Interface. Now is the time. Her mind clone is now ready and waiting at Observer Base and we need to get her connected to Georgy via a telepathic link."

I could sense that Zeta was feeling particularly protective towards Rylla. Zeta did not have the benefit of Yōd's infites massaging her thoughts in the way that I did. Zeta made her position clear, "Tricia, or Maria, or whatever your real name is, I don't trust you. I don't want you shooting some drug into Rylla until you warp her mind into the activity pattern that you hope to achieve."

Tricia nodded and a sly grin came to her otherwise grim face. "I understand your misgivings. Frankly, I would not even be trying to explain the situation to you two except for... well, there is something more that I must tell you."

I could sense the shape of Tricia's thoughts and where this was heading: it had something to do with Zeta and I. "Just tell us. We'll give you a fair hearing."

Trysta-Grean Pact.

Tricia reached over and placed her hand on mine. "Thank you. This is a delicate situation and I need to get this right. I can't afford to scare you two off."

Zeta suggested, "Maybe you should begin by telling us who you are and why you are on Earth."

Tricia took a deep breath and shrugged. "To make a long story short, there is a small clean-up crew still on Earth, tying up loose ends in the tattered fringes of the Trysta-Grean Pact."

Stimulated by Zeta's suspicions and sensing that Tricia was trying to conceal some secret, I demanded, "How small?"

Tricia hesitated then replied, "Just Izhiun and myself."

I knew that Tricia was not telling us the entire story, but I let her statement stand unchallenged. I was too surprised by the mention of Izhiun. I blurted out, "Izhiun is still on Earth?"

Tricia squeezed my hand. "He and I still have some work to do before we depart."

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I let my fingers stoke the smooth skin of her hand. I knew that she was not human. Her skin was too smooth, almost frictionless. That made sense: only some kind of advanced artificial lifeform could have avoided detection by the tryp'At Overseers and remained on Earth past their tenure at Observer Base. But what about Izhiun? I was certain that he was a biological lifeform. I told Tricia, "Izhiun left Earth long ago, even before Ivory's departure."

Just then a man approached and joined us at our table. I was too startled by his appearance to speak. Tricia told Zeta, "Zeta, meet Izhiun."

Zeta asked nervously, "You two are the last Interventionists on Earth?"

memory editing by nanites

I put out my hand across the table towards Izhiun and said, "I never really got a chance to meet you when you slipped your infites into my brain."

Izhiun shook my hand and grinned sheepishly, "Ivory had given Thomas and I strict instructions on how to make the infite transfers. I'm sorry if you had trouble adjusting to the sudden influx of so many new memories."

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I released "his" hand and leaned back in my chair, knowing that this copy of "Izhiun" was like Tricia, an artificial lifeform. Zeta asked, "So how do you plan to complete your clean-up mission? Don't try to talk us into leaving Earth along with you when you depart. We've both decided to stay on this world."

Izhiun shook his head and replied, "No, we respect your decision to stay on Earth. We decided to talk to you today because Tricia and I are improvising, but we both feel strongly that our plan is sound. We want to give you a gift. Call it our going away gift, if you like." He smiled enigmatically and leaned against Tricia and put an arm around her.

I knew that the real Izhiun was middle-aged, but this synthetic copy looked quite young, as did Tricia. Sitting there they looked like a couple of high school sweethearts who could not keep their hands off of each-other. I could sense that Tricia was thinking about children; babies. With a sense of dread I asked, "What kind of gift. Just tell us. Stop playing games."

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Tricia explained, "Actually two gifts. Two bundles of joy. First, in order to complete Rylla's linkage to Observer Base, we are going to need more than just a nicotinic brain boost to adjust her Phari endosymbiont. There needs to be a second mind clone here on Earth."

I had mistakenly assume that the mind clone at Observer Base would provide a telepathic conduit linking Rylla to Georgy White, but now I knew that had been wishful thinking. This was going to require a mind clone network. I asked, "If Rylla is going to be the mother, who will be the father of this new mind clone?"

Izhiun explained, "That's not the correct question to be asking. The mind clone here on Earth must be a genetic duplicate of the one at Observer Base. For a mind clone to telepathically link Rylla and Georgy, half the genes must come from Rylla and half from Georgy."

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Zeta laughed, "Just two small problems. Georgy is not on Earth and both Rylla and Georgy are girls."

Tricia nodded. "Correct, but those are not serious impediments to creating the needed mind clone here on Earth. Tomorrow I'll introduce Rylla to Izhiun. One thing will lead to another and about nine months from now Rylla will give birth to the mind clone."

Zeta cried out, shouting at Izhiun, "You're going to impregnate our grand-daughter?"

The room became silent, with many eyes looking in our direction, then slowly the various conversations in the room resumed. I told Zeta, "I think I understand what they are trying to tell us. Izhiun is an artificial lifeform. I suspect that he carries sperm that hold a copy of Georgy's chromosomes. He can function as an artificial device for transferring those sperm to Rylla."

Tricia was shaking her head, "It is not that simple. A random collection of genes from Rylla will not work. Rylla's baby must be a clone of the newborn baby that Georgy is now caring for at Observer Base."

I asked Izhiun, "You've brought cells to Earth? Cells from the mind clone?"

He replied, "Sadly no. That was our original plan, but teleportation to and from Earth has recently been terminated."

I told them, "Yes, we know. Nora told us." Izhiun and Tricia exchanged a surprised glance. I continued, "We know about Nora and her mission on Earth. Nora visited us shortly before Rylla arrived, having teleported to Arizona. Then she suddenly discovered that she could not teleport back to Australia."

Izhiun asked, "So you know that Nora is also on Earth as an Interventionist agent? I'm surprised that she revealed herself to you."

I decided that we all had to stop dancing around the truth. "Nora had to put our minds at ease and let us know that she had the situation in Australia under control."

Tricia giggled, "Yes, that's Nora's current mission, keeping your son entertained. Plus, he's staying in touch with Rylla via the internet. In fact, they are chatting together online right this very moment."

Zeta asked, "So, you can tap into our phones?"

Tricia replied, "Of course. Your lame attempt to drop off the grid was quite ineffective.

I asked, "If you can't teleport a copy of the mind clone to Earth, then how do you hope to make Rylla give birth to a genetic duplicate of the mind clone?"

Izhiun explained, "I'm a fully functional genetics engine. I've already built from scratch a second embryo that is genetically identical to the existing daughter of Rylla and Georgy who is at Observer Base."

I said, "Of course! After you made the first mind clone, you had the genetic sequence and making a second clone was trivial."

"Not trivial, but I got the job done." Izhiun shrugged. "Conventional cloning would have been easier, believe me."

Zeta looked at me, puzzled. She asked, "How is this possible?"

Ek'col

I thought back through the years and reflected on the process by which my understanding of alien visitors to Earth had sprouted and grown. "With the help of hints from various sources, I've been gradually led to the point where I understand. The whole system for time travel that made the work of the Eternals possible depended on what we call Temporal Momentum. But how can genetically identical people be born into each Reality of a Reality Chain? That was a job for the Phari endosymbionts that are inside every human being. Those endosymbionts could make from scratch the needed embryos in each new reality. Human variants like the Ek'col and the Kac'hin even have the means to go a step further. Rather than copy a genetic pattern from a past Reality, they can consciously design a new human genome and then implant the constructed embryo into a woman."

Zeta was appalled. "How horrible!" She grabbed my arm. "And you are going to let Izhiun do that to Rylla?"

I patted Zeta's hand where it gripped my arm. "I think I knew this was where events have been heading. And there is more." I glanced at Tricia. "Isn't there?"

Tricia nodded. "Izhiun and I have decided to give you two a gift. A mind clone of your own."

Surprised by the idea, I laughed uneasily. "I don't think that's wise. I'm an old man. I doubt if I have any clean DNA left in me." I shook my head sadly. "No, it would not be wise to build a baby from my tired old genes."

Izhiun deflected my concern, "Remember, I have the ability to clean up any damaged genes and make your child genetically perfect. So, there's no need to worry about your aged DNA." Izhiun continued, "Tricia and I realized that we should check and ask you two if you have a preference: would you like your child to be a boy or a girl?"

Zeta complained, "You were going to impregnate me without even warning me?"

Tricia tried to speak calmly and keep from further provoking Zeta. "We know that you want to have a child with your husband. When the opportunity arose, we contacted you. What more do you want? So, boy or girl?"

Zeta and I looked at each other. I told Zeta, "I know you want a girl."

Zeta turned back to Izhiun, "Yes, I want a baby girl. But I'm uncomfortable with the whole process. I'm sickened by the thought of you impregnating Rylla and me both."

Tricia sighed. "This would have been much simpler if we still had access to teleporter technology."

Izhiun added, "Or if we found it ethically acceptable to just knock you unconscious and implant the embryos while you slept."

Tricia nodded and looked back and forth between Zeta and me. I was dazzled by her brilliant blue eyes. "In your case, it is best to explain everything, even if the process makes you queasy. In Rylla's case, eventually she will understand, but for now it is best if she just view her pregnancy as the natural outcome of a heated sexual encounter."

Zeta said. "I find it disgusting that you can even contemplate secretly implanting a clone in her uterus."

Trying to calm her down, I put my arm around Zeta, "I think I understand the twisted logic of this. I have one question. Izhiun, do you plan on living out your life here on Earth with Rylla?"

Izhiun became very serious. "Sir, if your grand-daughter fell in love with me and asked me to marry her then I would do so. However, we have carefully studied her mind-set and Rylla is more attracted to women than to men. That's why Tricia made contact with her in the first place, not I."

Zeta asked skeptically, "And yet you expect the poor girl to let you ravish her?"

Izhiun chuckled. "You both know something of the power of nanites. Using nanites, I could take control of Rylla's emotions and make her like me. Without access to teleporter technology, there does need to be physical contact with Rylla in order to accomplish the embryo implantation, but both Tricia and I are equipped to perform the implantation. All we need is a few minutes of close physical contact to accomplish the embryo implantation. We could do it while Rylla is unconscious, but it would be best if she had a memory of how she became pregnant. If needed, we will provide a false memory, but it is best if there is a basis in reality for us to construct the memories that we will leave her with."

Zeta shook her head, "I find this all highly objectionable."

I told Zeta, "I'm certain they could initiate these two pregnancies and send infites into your brain that would reprogram your thoughts and remove all of your objections. Don't make them do that, Zeta. Think it through. You and I want a stronger telepathic link between us. This is our chance to forge that link. And even if you don't like it, Rylla is determined to learn how her memories were altered by Maria Green." I pointed at Tricia. "And here is Maria offering to provide Rylla with the means to understand that and the entire Hidden History of Humanity."

Zeta wiped a tear from one eye and then the other. "I understand all that. I still don't like it. Rylla should control her own life and not have this done to her."

I held Zeta close against me and asked, "Zeta, when have any of we Earthlings been in control?"

I could sense that Zeta was struggling to control her emotions. "Well, my problem is that I was not born on Earth. But I've selected Earth as my world, so I guess I have to accept our fate as Earthlings. Still, I don't want either Tricia or Izhiun implanting an embryo inside me."

Tricia said, "Lucky for you, your husband is tryp'At and he can perform the implantation himself." She and Izhiun stood up. She said to Zeta, "Goodby," and Tricia walked away.

Izhiun said to me, "Goodby, sir." We shook hands again then he turned and followed Tricia walking out of the restaurant.

Zeta and I talked all through the rest of the night and into the next day. She never became comfortable with the idea that she and Rylla would become incubators for manufactured embryos. At about 10:00 AM Rylla joined us in the restaurant for a quick brunch then she set off for the nearby university campus and her scheduled meeting with Tricia.

Zeta and I arranged to stay at the hotel another day. We let the cats have a romp outside and after a while Zeta received a text message from Rylla saying that she was getting a tour of the neuroscience lab at the Salk Institute. Now exhausted, Zeta and I went to bed in the middle of the afternoon.

About six hours later, I was awaken by cats noises and the sensation of a stronger telepathic connection to Rylla. I knew immediately that Tricia had successfully adjusted Rylla's Phari endosymbiont for better linkage to the Bimanoid Interface. Zeta was still sound asleep, but I was now wide awake and I took the cats out to the pet play area. Rylla, Tricia and Izhiun were in the pool, playing a volleyball game with a group of other youngsters. After about an hour I took the cats back indoors and Zeta awoke, hungry. We went to the restaurant and I showed Zeta that Rylla was still in the pool.

Sitting down at our table in the restaurant, I could monitor Rylla's activity and I could see what was going on when about half an hour later Rylla, Tricia and Izhiun went from the pool area towards her hotel room. I said nothing about that to Zeta until later, after our meal, when she saw that the pool was empty. "I'll bet she went to her room."

Zeta sent a text message to Rylla and got confirmation that she was in her room: See you in the morning for brunch.

I suggested to Zeta, "Let's go for a ride." We got the rental van out of the parking garage and drove to the shore. We ended up taking a long walk on the beach under moon light and got back to the hotel just as dawn was breaking. Our metabolic clocks off kilter, we ate a large, leisurely breakfast. Zeta was tired, but I said, "I'll wait up and have brunch with Rylla. I want to hear how things went in the lab yesterday." I already knew.

As soon as Zeta went back to our room, Tricia joined me at the table. She said, "Everything is going as planned; your greatgrand-daughter is on the way. Izhiun and I are about ready to depart... he's saying his goodbye's to Rylla right now. All that remains is the matter of providing you with your new daughter. The zygote will be held in mitotic arrest until Zeta's uterus cycles around and is ready for implantation."

I asked nervously, "You said that tryp'At can implant embryos, but you had better provide me with instructions. This is lore that has never reached me."

Tricia said, "Don't worry, there is nothing special for you to do. Let's go to your rental van."

I led her to the parking garage and we both climbed into the back of the van. Tricia folded down the back seats and told me to lay down and relax. I stretched out, laying on my back. With the darkly tinted glass of the windows, it was hard to see exactly what Tricia was doing. She knelt, straddling me and then unzipped my pants. A weird red appendage emerged, snaking down below the edge of her short shirt. Tricia guided that thin worm-like tube inside me then she laid down on top of me. For a few minutes she spoke into my ear and I could feel that red worm moving around inside me. She told me that all Ek'col, Kac'hin and tryp'At were equipped with special anatomical structures that allowed embryos to be transferred from a Phari endosymbiont into the body of another person. She told me that she was transferring an early morula stage embryo into me that would grow to become Zeta's and my daughter.

When the embryo transfer was complete, Tricia rolled off of me and sat next to me. "There... you now carry your daughter."

I was dismayed by the idea that I had one of those snaking red appendages inside my body. I asked disbelievingly, "Are you sure that I'm equipped to perform the implantation?"

She laughed. "Do you want me to show you your blastipositor?"

"No, not really. I've lived my whole life imagining that I was a human being. As it is, I'm going to have nightmares about what you just did to me."

Without further ado, Tricia got out of the van and disappeared across the parking lot without a single look back at me. When I had composed myself as best I could and got my pants zipped up again, I returned the seats to their normal position and went back to the restaurant. While I drank my way through a pot of tea, I could sense that Rylla finished a rather long and mournful goodbye with Izhiun. Then Rylla took a very long shower, chatted with her father via the internet and then got dressed. Finally at mid-morning Rylla appeared, ready for brunch. For ten minutes we sat in silence exploring our now enhanced telepathic connection. I could sense that her mind was full of thoughts of Izhiun and I had no doubt that she could sense my own spinning thoughts about what Tricia had done to me. I wondered how deeply Rylla could penetrate into my memories. Finally she asked me, "Why are you thinking about babies?"

I did not want to infect Rylla's mind with my horrified reaction to having had an embryo placed inside my body so I tried to sound positive. "Once long ago, Zeta had a baby. That was not a good experience for her, but I know that she would like to have another child."

Rylla smiled and I could tell that she was still thinking about Izhiun, "I know that Zeta tries to pretend to be an old lady, but that's just an act. I bet she's still fertile. You two should have a child if you want one."

I nodded, "There's no need for wagers. Zeta has the body of a thirty-year-old and nanites that keep her from aging at a normal human rate."

Rylla was now hungrily demolishing a giant muffin. "And what about you? You're not exactly human, are you?"

"That's a matter of debate," I replied. Not wanting to discuss the tryp'At with Rylla and unable to restrain myself, I changed the subject and asked Rylla, "And what about you? Would you like to be a mother?"

She thought about that for a while while she chewed and took a long drink of orange juice. "Ya, someday... maybe when I'm old. When I'm thirty. Isn't that how old you were when your first child was born?"

I told her, "You may not know this, but back when I was about your age there was a woman who accused me of being the father of her child."

Rylla nodded. "I read about that in your blog. That was Hana?"

I said, "There's a name that brings back old memories. I knew Hana when I was in college. Speaking of which, how did things go on campus yesterday?"

Rylla told me about her visit to Dr. Lemet's research lab at the Salk institute. "So, I volunteered to be a test subject for a new receptor agonist that they are testing. Part of Tricia's research project. It was during that experiment that I could suddenly sense a stronger telepathic connection to your mind."

I nodded. "Yes, I felt that change yesterday and it seems to be permanent. You and I may find it hard to keep secrets from each other now. What about Zeta?"

Rylla explained, "I can now sense her mind pattern, with about as much depth and clarity as I used to have with you. In fact, I have the sensation that she is trying to listen in on our conversation right now."

I laughed. "Yes, she is. As soon as she takes a quick shower she'll join us. She's still very tired. We were up all night."

Rylla stifled a yawn. "So was I. Maybe we should just crash today."

"That's a good idea. Let me check on something." I took out my phone and looked at the schedule for trains leaving San Diego. Trying to sound casual, I asked Rylla, "Who was that boy I saw you and Tricia with yesterday in the pool?"

Rylla sighed. "That was Kelly, Tricia's boyfriend."

Zeta arrived and joined us at our table. She asked Rylla, "Do you have plans to see them again this evening?"

Rylla was quiet for a while, looking down into her bowl of berries and nuts. Finally she said, "No, I'd rather not see them again. They are both amazing and so alive, but Tricia and Kelly are a couple and I don't want to mess with that. It was odd... they both seemed attracted to me, almost in a weird way. I think we should check out and move on with our vacation."

Zeta complained, "We're all tired. None of us should be driving today."

I said, "No problem." I put away my phone. "All we need to do is drive to the train station. I just got us reservation on the autotrain. We can sleep all the way to New Orleans... then it is only a short drive to Florida."

Zeta asked, "Florida? Don't tell me you want to go to a Red Sox spring training game. I don't have the patience to explain baseball to Rylla."

I laughed. "Okay, I won't." I took my phone out again. "Maybe we could catch a cruise out of New York City that allows cats on-board." I asked Rylla, "How would you like to visit England?"

Next: are Nora, Izhiun and Tricia trapped on Earth?

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